This invention relates to manual dispensing devices for dry granular materials such as seeds, fertilizers and the like.
Manual or hand seeders have long been known as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,347,249, 4,760,807 and 4,934,288, for example, and in their present form include features designed to first form a hole or depression in the ground into which the seeds are then deposited by some form of mechanical action that requires one or more such components as springs, rotating plates, cams and the like which are subject to wear and clogging, require maintenance and repair and thus add to the costs of manufacture and an ultimate higher cost for the purchaser.
In view of the above observations, it is one of the important objects of this invention to provide a manual dispenser for dry granular materials that includes a novel means for dispensing such materials requiring only one moving gravity operated part that permits simplicity in construction, economy in manufacture for reduced costs to the purchaser and is maintenance free in operation.
Another object herein is to provide a device of the above class that is efficiently usable from a standing position and thus eliminates the discomfort usually attendant with repeated bending and stooping in the distribution of the materials involved.
Still another object is to provide a device as characterized with which a user can deliver granular materials such as dry sand, limestone, seeds, dry fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides and the like either individually or in predetermined controlled mixtures to a precise selected target point or along a linear path in an effective and efficient manner.